Zhong Fan was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven cultivator with a deep and robust foundation. When the sword formation had been shattered earlier, he had sustained heavy injuries as well, though not as severe as Luo Qingyun's. Had he fled in time, he might still have had a sliver of a chance. Yet for some reason he had remained here, watching as Thunder Light's and Sword Pavilion's Disciples fell one after another.
By the time Yang Kai descended before him and gazed down, Zhong Fan could only snort coldly: "Don't get cocky, boy. You've defied the will of all under heaven—once you leave the Great Ruines, it'll be your death day!"
Yang Kai's brow furrowed. He vaguely sensed there was more to those words than met the eye, but he couldn't be bothered to press further. He snorted back: "I happen to like people with hard bones like you—crunching through them is the real fun!"
With that, he swung a palm down toward Zhong Fan.
No mercy. No hesitation—only killing intent!
Zhong Fan's expression remained flat, but just as the massive palm was three chi from him, his eyes suddenly erupted with brilliant light. A crack split open between his brows, and from within that fissure, the resonance of his Dao unfolded. A streak of sword qi slashed across the void, hurtling straight at Yang Kai.
In this moment between life and death, he had activated the power of his Dao Seal, projecting it outward to fight—as Yang Kai had once done against the Great Demon God back in the Star Boundary, staking everything on a single desperate gamble.
For a cultivator, the Dao Seal was like a demon beast's inner core, containing the entirety of one's spirit, energy, and comprehension of one's own Dao. It was never to be used lightly. But once projected outward, its power could shake heaven and earth. The risk, however, was equally catastrophic—if the Dao Seal was damaged, one's body would perish and one's Dao would vanish.
That was why, short of the absolute brink of death, no one would ever resort to such a thing.
Even demon beasts would not casually cast their inner cores out to fight.
Zhong Fan had been driven to this. Yang Kai had manifested a Golden Crow to forge the sun dharma idol, and on top of that he wielded the Yuanmantic Divine Gourd—a weapon so terrifying it defied belief. Apart from this final gamble, Zhong Fan had no other hope.
A life-or-death throw of the dice. Victory or defeat left to heaven's whim!
Having devoted his life to the sword and the path of slaughter, his Dao Seal had taken the form of a three-inch blade. The forces of yin, yang, and the five elements circulated across its surface, its edge so keen it seemed capable of cutting through anything.
"I knew you'd do this!" Yang Kai snorted coldly. His outstretched palm snapped shut in a grab, snatching the Dao Seal sword right out of the air.
But moments later, his expression tightened. Looking down, he saw a blinding streak of sword light pierce through his palm and shoot straight toward his forehead.
He had still underestimated the power of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven cultivator staking everything on one last strike. Even his formidable Dragon Transformed body could not fully withstand the Dao Seal sword's might. A bloody hole was punched clean through his palm, sword qi swirling within the wound.
Yang Kai drew a deep breath, his entire body swelling visibly as his chest and abdomen distended. With a great exhalation, he opened his mouth and sprayed Golden Crow True Fire directly at the Dao Seal sword.
Raging flames billowed outward, warping the very void.
The three-inch sword, like a small fish swimming against the current, struggled upstream through the blazing fire—but the Golden Crow True Fire battered it relentlessly, sending it drifting and tumbling.
Zhong Fan's eyes nearly split from fury. With a thunderous roar, he poured every last shred of power into his Dao Seal, determined to kill Yang Kai here and now!
Inch by inch, the Dao Seal sword crept closer to Yang Kai's forehead. Its speed was agonizingly slow, yet the threat of death it radiated was palpable to everyone watching.
But Yang Kai stood motionless. The Golden Crow True Fire poured from his mouth in an unending stream.
The sword blazed with light and began to shudder violently.
After ten breaths, when the three-inch blade finally reached his face, it could endure no longer—and shattered with a thunderous explosion.
Zhong Fan spat out a mouthful of scalding blood. His aura plummeted into silence in an instant, and his once-robust body seemed to have had every last drop of vitality wrung from it, leaving behind nothing but skin and bones.
A gust of wind blew past, scattering his hair in wild, limp strands.
The Dao Seal had been destroyed. Zhong Fan's cultivation was completely crippled!
Throughout the Star Market, countless hearts trembled. Many Open Heaven cultivators felt a pang of fox-grief-at-the-rabbit's-death. Though they had long heard that a shattered Dao Seal meant one's body would perish and one's Dao would vanish, for ninety-nine out of a hundred this was the first time they had witnessed it with their own eyes. The transformation in Zhong Fan before and after was nothing short of horrifying.
Yang Kai took a single step forward, drifting past Zhong Fan without a backward glance.
He had no interest in striking a man who was already dead.
Two or three steps brought him to Lu Xue. He reached down, seized her by the collar, and hauled her up, gazing down at her with cold indifference: "Where is Sword Pavilion's headquarters?"
Behind him, Zhong Fan's head drooped deeply at those words, his remaining aura rapidly fading to nothing.
Blood gushed ceaselessly from Lu Xue's mouth, mixed with fragments of her internal organs. The skin across her entire body had turned an unnatural, flushed red—as though she were a crab steamed alive.
She had been branded with Golden Crow True Fire before the battle even began. Having sat out the entire fight, she had initially relied on Zhong Fan to suppress the calamity raging within her. Once he left, she lacked the strength to resist the fire's searing heat on her own. All she could do was hold on in place, slowly waiting for death.
Fortunately, as a Fourth-Order Open Heaven cultivator, her foundation was not entirely negligible, and the battle between Yang Kai and Sword Pavilion and Thunder Light had not lasted long. So at this point she was still alive—though she had perhaps half a life left at most.
If left untreated, she would not last even an incense stick's worth of time before perishing completely.